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(just a side note, you could always replace aether with lumine if you prefer her!!)
there she was again, so close yet so far.
aether desperately tried reaching out to his sister, but it was too late. each step he took closer, she faded away. "lumine!" he called out, but she was already gone.
jean had assigned you to give a place for the honorary knight to stay. you decided to let him and paimon stay in your house for a bit until he has to leave.
when he left for liyue, your house felt lonely and quiet. especially since the floating fairy wasn't there to constantly talk to you. you were delighted when you found out he arrived back at mondstadt and offered to let him stay at your place again.
he was currently sleeping at your couch, paimon next to him. you decided to go for a midnight snack and boiled some hot water. you were crushing some rose petals and prepared tea cups.
suddenly aether jolted awake, scaring you in the process. paimon awoke as well while you rushed towards him.
"aether, you okay?" you asked, putting your hand on his shoulder. the traveller was breathing heavily and looked towards you.
he noticed your hand on his shoulder and blushed. "i'm uh.. i'm fine. just a nightmare, like always." he stuttered.
"well err, i'm making some tea. i can prepare some for you and paimon." you stated, standing up.
"ooh, they didn't forget about paimon! hehe, now paimon knows why you like-"
"paimon!" aether stopped his travel companion from speaking further, making her laugh nervously.
"did you guys say something?" you asked from the kitchen. "nope!" paimon replied.
you continued to make the tea and added some toast on the way.
you placed it infront of your guests. paimon immediately gobbled down on the food while aether slowly drank his tea.
"what was your nightmare about?" you asked, making the boy you look at you shyly.
"it was about my sister. she was finally infront of me but i couldn't reach her. it's a nightmare i keep having." he replied, making you feel bad for asking.
"i'm sorry for asking... i know what it feels like to lose someone too."
"nightmares aren't fun but at least i know you won't leave me, right?"
you gulped as you felt butterflies tickle your stomach. you gave him a quick 'mhm' before looking away. suddenly you had a bold idea that you thought might help him get through the night without a nightmare.
you stood up from your seat and quickly went into your bedroom. paimon and aether looked at eachother, the tiny fairy shrugging her shoulder as she continued to eat.
"okay-um! aether, you can stay on my bed for tonight. sleeping next to someone often stops nightmares, or atleast that's how i stop klee's nightmares when i'm taking care of her...." you pondered.
"ooh ooh! soft bed, paimon wants in!"
aether looked at paimon with a concerned look, as if telling her stop. "i'm okay, i can handle a silly nightmare. right, paimon?"
"oh come on aether! we both know you wanna sleep next to-"
"i insist. i'm still worried about you, no one deserves to be alone when they have a nightmare."
aether sighed and agreed, making paimon clap happily. "yay, soft bed!"
you two got onto the bed, backs facing eachother. now that you were here, you regretted your decision. you could hear aether's soft breaths, making your heart pick up it's pace.
he was so close to you.
you decided to close your eyes and not think much about it. after all, this will all be over in the morning.
the sun had just risen and you were still half asleep. you nuzzled your head into something, it felt warm. your eyes were still closed but it soon opened when you realized what it was.
you and aether were facing eachother. somewhere along the night, your bodies met. you could hear his heartbeat, it was calm whilst yours was rapid. your eyes roamed around a bit, his bed head was a cute look.
his eyebrows scrunched up, maybe he was dreaming again. you moved some hair that was covering his face and his face softened up to your touch.
the way the rays of sunlight hit his face was ethereal.
as much as you wanted to get out of bed, the boy infront of you was a sight you never wanted to unsee.
soon aether's eyes opened slowly. you quickly closed yours, pretending as if you weren't gawking at him moments before.
he looked down at you, grunting a bit. his once calm heartbeat was racing as well. he quickly looked around the room.
"paimon? paimon!" he called.
his travel companion awoke as well, rubbing her eyes. she looked at him confused, before realizing what he meant.
"oooohh~ now this is a sight to remember!"
"shhh! you might wake them up!"
"well you woke me up! that's not fair."
the two whispered back in forth, making you laugh a little bit. aether noticed as your head was still nuzzled onto his chest.
"g-goodmorning, y/n. u-um i should probably leave now hehe." aether nervously said, taking the blanket off of himself.
what an eventful, yet nice morning it was.
(angst takes so long to write 😩🙏 im not good at writing fluff but please take this while i continue writing my xiao and childe angst mUAHAHHAA)
